Page 195 of River & Crown
"Hey, everyone. Gigi, you have a lovely home." She smiled.
"Actually, this ismyhome," Navy sassed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"For good reason." Navy frowned.
Syn forced out a tight, dour laugh. "Where can I wash my hands?" she asked.
"Crown, show her," Gigi told him.
Dropping the duffle, Crown touched the small of Syn's back, guiding her out of the dining room.
"So, we're not acknowledging Crown bringing some random bitch to dinner?" Kyree asked, looking dead at me.
"Kyree, language!" my mother said, causing everyone but me to laugh.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Lakelyn, but you know I go hard for River. Wolfe might've sat Chosyn down, but I don't have a nigg- I mean man to make me shut up."
"Fav, pipe down and mind your business for me," Rize told her smoothly. Kyree cut her eyes in his direction and laughed.
"Nigga, you get one time to put me in my place and you used yours," she sassed, then glanced toward my mother. "Sorry, Ms. Lakelyn."
"River, are you okay?" Kysre softly asked.
"I'm fine." I shrugged, lying through my teeth.
Crown didn't just bring a random to dinner. He brought the same bitch he told me I had nothing to worry about. Hearing her name didn't just stop my heart. It cracked something inside me wide open.
"Are you?—"
Chosyn's talking was cut off by Crown and his bitch coming back into the dining room.
He pulled out a chair that sat next to Navy for Syn, then rounded the table and pulled out the chair next to me. My body stiffened as he set the duffle on it, then took a seat across from me, but next to Syn. Everyone glanced at me, then at the duffle, but didn't say a word.
"Okay, now that we're all here. Who wants to say grace so we can eat this food that Lakelyn, Navy, and I spent all day cooking?" Gigi asked.
"I—"
"No, Navy, let me." I smiled.
"Okay, River, go ahead," Gigi encouraged.
"Can everyone bow their heads and hold hands? I guess I'll grab the strap of the duffle since it has a place at the dinner table," I joked as I waited for everyone to do what I asked.
"Lord, thank you for this food, for the hands that prepared it, and for giving me the strength to sit at this table with grace when everything in me wants to flip it. Thank you for love... the kind that doesn't run when it gets hard, the kind you fight for, the kind that'll have you on your knees one day praying... and the next, ready to bury a bitch if necessary. So, bless this meal, Lord. And bless everyone at this table... even the ones who think their seat came without consequence. Amen."
"River Ashland, I raised you better than this," my mother chastised.
"River Gravehart," Crown's husky voice cut through the room, and I smirked, owning every bit of the name.
Syn lifted her head slowly, placing her napkin in her lap with a tight smile that played on her lips, but not in her eyes.
"Do you have something you want to say, or do you just hide behind Jesus?"
I raised my brow, unbothered. "If the shoe fits, I suggest you choke on it before addressing me."
"But I am addressing you. It must get under your skin to know Crown has chosen peace over your bullshit." She smirked.
